


A Date for Figaro and Carmen

by Of_Lights_and_Shadows



Category: Marvel
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Music, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Attempt at Humor, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 12:06:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19356718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_Lights_and_Shadows/pseuds/Of_Lights_and_Shadows
Summary: Loki loves studying on a music academy and everything about it. What he doesn't love is the person who he's forced to room with.Thankfully he has a good friend to vent his frustrations about it all.





	A Date for Figaro and Carmen

 

Loki enjoys his time at Shield Academy of the Performing Arts. It's all he wanted to persue his dream. He was also away from his family, so that was a bonus.

He started practicing again.

 

_L'amour est un oiseau rebelle_   
_Que nul ne peut apprivoiser,_   
_Et c'est bien en vain qu'on l'appelle,_   
_S'il lui convient de refuser._

 

"Practicing again?" the headache that is his roomate asks. "You know your teacher is a prick that would rather give Carmen's part to Romanov than you? No offense to your friend, but she's completely tone deaf."

"Of course you know all about tone deafness. You're tone deaf yourself. Also, are you implying I can't  ** _sing_** , Tony?"

Tony just snorts. "On the contrary, I'm saying that even if you could _precisely_ and  _perfectly_ imitate La Divina herself, you still wouldn't take the role."

Loki sighs. "Just go back to your guitars and let me practice in peace."

Yes, because there was that rooming rule that you had to be with someone who was on a different course than you.

"Don't worry about it Carmen, I'm going to Rhodey's. Just came to pick up some stuff, and I'll be out."

Loki ignores the nickname, ready to return to practice as soon as The Annoying One leaves. There's a guitar case on his back and some notebooks on his hands but that one comment doesn't leave his mind.

 

_(Even if you could imitate La Divina herself...)_

 

 

"Why don't you sing something then?" he blurts out. "Opera. If you think you know so much about it."

"A bet? I'm interested. Lay down the rules."

"You'll find another roomate if it's bad. If it's good, I'll.... I'll set you up on a date with Natasha."

"A date with you and it's a deal."

Loki doesn't think a lot about it. "Deal. Let me hand you one of my books and pick up what you want to attempt and end up butchering."

"No need." and there's that annoying laughter again, before Tony clears his throat and begins singing.

 

_Largo al factotum della città._  
Presto a bottega che l'alba è già.  
Ah, che bel vivere, che bel piacere  
per un barbiere di qualità!

 

And surprisingly, it's... good. Tony, who usually sings with a voice coarse and rough, sometimes even screaming, now just hits everything perfectly? It's as if he's done this countless times, over an over and over. His voice carries a practiced perfection. Perfect punctuation, perfect accent, perfect tempo, perfect  _everything._ It makes Loki wonder, if Tony is that good, why is he in a rock band of all things?

 

_Pronto prontissimo son come il fulmine:_  
sono il factotum della città.  
Ah, bravo Figaro! Bravo, bravissimo;  
a te fortuna non mancherà.

 

Yes, Tony's singing is swift as lightning and as bright as its light. He even moves his arms in a theatrical way, as if he's unconsiously slipped into the role of _Figaro_ , as though he's showing of his skills as a barber alongside those of a singer.

Then, the aria ends and Tony bows.

"Hey, Carmen, don't you die on me, okay?" he jokes. "Can't wait until our date" and he winks before he leaves.

What just happened?

 

-//-

 

"I can't believe I just did that!" Tony complains to his best friend. "Help me Rhodey!!"

"Showing off or showing off to your roomate?"

"Both?? I said I won't show off, I don't need another place being compared to my parents. And Loki, is, well. It's Loki."

"Right. Because it's your crush." James sighs.

"He's not my crush. I just think he's cute." Tony denies, and James can practically feel the inner facepalm leaving its mark on his actual forehead.

"Which is why you showed off, and then got yourself a date."

"I told him to _'don't die on me'._ This was awful and the absolute worst."

"DIdn't your dad say that exact thing to your mum?"

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"Wait, he actually did? Now that's a surprise. You're like your dad."

"I'm not. I don't obsess over things. Or people. Or make bad puns."

"The denial is strong in this one." Tony glares. James sighs. "Why don't you just call your mum? She'll have some good advice for you."

Tony eyes his phone, picks it up and turns to leave. He's stopped.

"You don't have to go. I might not understand Italian, but you always smile when you speak it over the phone."

 

-//-

 

"So, you got offended because Tony called me tone deaf?" Natasha asks.

"I defended your honour!"

Natasha just shrugs. "Loki, I'm a ballerina. Singing isn't important. If he called me uncoordinated, then yes, feel free to defend my honour."

"He called me Carmen."

"It's what you were practicing." Natasha reminds him. "And then you gambled a date between him and me."

"I said I'm sorry. I wanted to bait him." Loki apologises. "To my defense, almost everyone wants a date with you."

"And then you lost the bet."

"How am I supposed to know?"

"That he can sing opera?"

"Yes?"

Natasha sighs. "You don't have to be a spy to know it."

"Meaning?"

"Look. Tony's got a wikipedia page on him. Read it."

"At seventeen?"

"Just read it Loki. Now. I want a picture on your face."

Loki rolls his eyes and picks his phone. He didn't believe her when she told him about the page, but there it is.

And there, listed as his parents, are a Howard Stark (he knew that) and Maria Carbonell.

Loki's jaw drops. "Wait, the soprano?" Natasha nods. "Why? Why hide it?"

Natasha shugs. "My guess? It's hard being in not one, but both of your parents' shadows."

 

-//-

 

They've been shadowing them through the date day and James is sure at least Loki is aware. He tells Natasha.

"Yes, because I told Loki I'll intervene if anything goes wrong."

"I told Tony the same."

 

In the end, they didn't have to.

**Author's Note:**

> Am I satisfied with it? Not completely. Am I happy for finishing it? Absolutely.
> 
> References:  
> La Divina: soprano Maria Callas.  
> Loki sings "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" or as it's more known as, Habanera, from Carmen.  
> Tony sings "Largo al factotum" or, Figaro's aria, from The Barber of Seville.


End file.
